Is Easing ADHD as easy as One, Two, Three?

Recent studies on groups of students showedpositive results following the incorporation of Transcendental Meditationinto their daily routinestwice a day during school hours for three months, according to the Current Issues in Education journal.

Asstress can impair functioning and behavior—thus affecting working memory, impulse regulation, mental sharpness and coping strategies—lessening its effects can have highly beneficial results not only inalleviating ADD/ADHD symptoms(which are exacerbated by stress) but also helping develop healthy life coping skills.

Meditation thus may be a helpful resourceif properly followed for those struggling to achieve desired outcomes from conventional routines—or for those wishing to further supplement effective natural treatments.

Transcendental Meditation is a simple technique which individuals strive to let the mind move from active, focused levels of thinking to silent, expanded levels of consciousness, with minimal effort.

Regardless of whether an individual is trying to harness wandering attention spans from ADD/ADHD or daily stressors, anystress management programcan help improve one’s locus of control, self-concept, and ultimately appropriate coping strategies.

As many students suffer from chronic stress, which can manifest into self-injury, substance abuse, or behavior problems if not managed well, techniques which helpnormalize the stress responsecan be very valuable. Especially since students with ADD/ADHD experience greater levels of stress, this extra boost cangreatly improve their natural inclination to act impulsively.However, these techniques can be utilized for ADD/ADHD sufferers of all ages.

Students of the study—which included middle schoolers and children K-12—practiced this meditation technique twice a day for 10 minutes, with researchers finding a50 percent reduction in stress and anxietyas well asimprovement in attention, memory, organization, and behavior regulation. Teachers, parents, and students measured their results from a standard ADHD assessment to reach their findings.